


The Great Hexside Caper

by StarGirl11



Series: Owl House AU Fics [2]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Badass Eda, Badass Lilith, Blood and Injury, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Good Parent Eda Clawthorne, Hidden Injuries, Hiding Medical Issues, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Lilith being slightly oblivious, Lilith is an Asshole towards Luz though she will get better, Lumity is mostly background, Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Episode: s01e17 Wing It Like Witches, Search and Rescue, Suspense, badass Luz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:00:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26924743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarGirl11/pseuds/StarGirl11
Summary: It was supposed to be a normal day at Hexside. However an explosion from within the school turns into chaos. As a thief threatens to continue wrecking havoc if they don't get what they're looking for in time. Its a race across the clock to find the culprit before any more explosions can rock Bonesborough.Expansion on the idea from Chapter 2 From Luz's Not So Great Luck, Exploding Doubts into a full story. No that isn't required reading to understand this.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Lilith Clawthorne, Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda, Lilith Clawthorne/Original Character(s)
Series: Owl House AU Fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953277
Comments: 7
Kudos: 75





	1. In the Right Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz can't shake the feeling something bigs about to happen, though she can't figure out what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since I've hit a minor roadblock with Luz's Not So Great Luck. I know what I want to do, I'm just having difficulty writing it. So since I decided to expand this out to a full story since I had a couple people express interest. Since none of the other prompts really fit in I decided to go ahead and make it its own story. So I thought I would start posting this instead to make up for no Chapter 6 of LNGL today. 
> 
> Note, this probably won't have a set timeline for posting. Unlike LNGL which I'm trying to keep from dragging out too much I don't have a goal for timeline. And I'm still figuring out parts of the plot so that might cause some hiccups. 
> 
> Also while this is based around Chapter 2's original concept. There's going to be differences now that its getting flushed out. And I'm not under the same time crunch to write it. Also partly since this is shifting from being a whump fic. To a mystery/suspense fic with a touch of whump instead. 
> 
> Also since I have a feeling this will get asked. I'm not posting Chapter 3 or 5's AUs yet. Because they are going to take more time and world building than this will. That being said they will be popping up again in LNGL so just because I haven't started to post them yet doesn't mean you've seen the last of it yet.

Luz wasn't entirely sure what was wrong this morning. Ever since, she had rolled out of her sleeping bag early that morning. She hadn't been unable to shake the feeling that something big was about to happen, and she wasn't going to like it.

Something that apparently wasn't only obvious to herself. "Everything alright, kid?" Eda asked, watching Luz for a moment. 

"Oh, everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?" Luz said, trying to hide the nervous she was feeling behind a laugh.

"Well, considering you've been stabbing your eggs for the past several minutes, it seemed like a fair question," Eda said, motioning at the plate of food set in front of Luz. 

Luz chewed on her lip for a moment. Debating for a moment whether to fake it before deciding not too. "I don't know honestly. I've just had this feeling that something is going to happen today. But I can't figure out why."

Eda frowned at that. "Huh, have you had any strangely prophetic dreams in the past week or so," Eda asked, scratching her chin. Trying to think what might have somehow gotten the kid so wound up. 

Luz shook her head at that. "No, its just some strange gut feeling I've had since I got up. Nothing really substantial, and according to my professor. Could mean anything or could mean nothing. 'Gut feelings aren't a reliable form of oracle magic.'" Luz air quoted something she remembered one of them saying.

Eda let out a snort at that. Seeing the look Luz gave her, she said. "Look, kid. I'm just going to say this, gut feelings have saved my behind more times then I can count. So just because your teachers say one thing doesn't mean you should dismiss it outright. Now you sure you haven't seen anything that might explain the feeling?"

Luz thought for a moment before shaking her head. There hadn't been anything weird at school the day before. Well, at least nothing strange beyond what you could expect at Hexside anyways. Nothing that she could point the feelings towards being the reason for.

"Well, I can't help you much then, unfortunately," Eda said with a frown. If there was something to work with beyond a gut feeling, maybe she could have helped Luz. However, while she wasn't going to dismiss it outright like Luz's teachers did. She couldn't really do much more with it at that point. "Would you maybe feel better if I called you in sick today?" Eda offered going to the one thing she could do to help. 

Luz chewed on her lip for a moment considering the offer before shaking her head. "No. I think its best I still go. But thanks anyway, Eda." 

"Alright, suit yourself. Though the offer's open at any point before you leave for school if you change your mind." Eda said. "Now, you might want to eat your eggs before they go completely cold."

"Oh, right," Luz said, flushing a bit before finally returning to her breakfast. 

* * *

The school day had gone well so far. Nothing overtly weird had happened so far. Everything seemed fine so far. Nothing that could, at the very least, tie back to the uneasiness that had been bothering her since the morning. Everything seemed normal, appeared normal, and for all extents was normal. So why was it that Luz still couldn't entirely shake this feeling that something was about to happen?

Luz had eventually turned to one of her classmates to see if they could understand. The crescent-shaped girl she had shared a few classes with so far, Celeste. Though when asked if she had picked up anything, Celeste only frowned. "I haven't picked up anything that suggested that there might be trouble in the future." She admitted. "Is it just a gut feeling your getting?" 

"At this point, yes," Luz reluctantly admitted. She had tried looking into it on her own with what Oracle magic she could do so far. However, everything had come up blank. Much like there was nothing she could physically see to back up her worries. She couldn't see anything with her magic to back it up either. 

It was why she had turned to Celeste to see if she might have a better idea. Since she had been doing this for considerably longer then she had. "I know gut feelings in terms of 'oracle' magic can be questionable. I've heard our teachers say that a hundred times now. I know I should just be ignoring it. However, I'm having a tough time shaking this one."

Celeste's frown deepened. "Well, probably if it's that much of a problem, it might be worth asking one of the teachers about. Instead of flat out ignoring." Persistent feelings, gut or not, we're never the best to ignore at the very least. They just had to make sure to ask the right teacher. 

"Yeah, that's probably best." Luz agreed. Hoping that the teachers wouldn't just dismiss the concern out of hand.

She would never get to find out how they would respond to her concern. As further investigation would never be able to be completed. Her and Celeste had barely moved ten feet towards the classroom door when a loud boom seemed to echo down from the hall. "What-" Luz got one word out before she found herself hit in the back of the head by some flying object. She had a moment of pain, a brief ringing sound in her ears, and then the darkness completely overtook her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap. Short first chapter I know but its just to set the tone and get things rolling. I'll probably try to get the first full length chapter up in a few days. This is really more of a prologue.
> 
> Something to note. This takes place post Wing It Like Witches but just ignores Agony and YBOS because when I originally wrote the draft I hadn't really thought through the fact Eda with the spell circles quiet yet. However that's the most sense timing wise. So that's where its landing.
> 
> Also this is going to be fun for me to write. I discovered while writing Path's Divergence that I absolutely thrived and loved writing things with a mystery/suspense element. Though this will be my first time taking a full crack at it as the primarily focused genres.
> 
> Please remember to leave a comment. I appreciate the feedback!


	2. The Cracks Will Appear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The direct aftermath of the blast and trying to figure out what to do next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Hey this probably won't turn out too long its only got a handful of scenes.  
> Also Me: Manages to turn four scenes into 4,000 words. 
> 
> Quick note with scenes involving Luz this chapter. When she hears anyone talking at the moment it will be in italics instead of the normal double quote. This is done to differentiate between normal speech patterns and her current issue.
> 
> Anyways enjoy the chapter. Will have a note about planned posting schedule at the bottom.

It had been a quiet morning since Luz had left for school. Maybe when Eda looked back after it was all over, that should have been the first sign of trouble. Calmness at The Owl House never lasted that long. Or when it did, it always spelled some sort of trouble. 

The strange calmness had left her feeling antsy. Despite her reassurances to Luz that everything was fine. Apparently, Luz’s worry had turned into _her_ worry now. And was starting to cause problems as the uneasiness was carrying over into other things. As Eda found, she had lost track of where she was reading for the fourth time in the past twenty minutes. 

“What’s gotten into you today?” King asked, tilting his head in confusion as he hopped up onto the couch next to her. Apparently, she was showing her uneasiness as much as she was feeling it at the moment. “I don’t think I remember you being this nervous since Luz decided to fight Grom.” 

“I don’t know, this doesn’t make any sense,” Eda said, throwing her hands up in the air. Why was Luz’s gut feeling having such an impact on her? There was nothing to suggest one way or another that something terrible might happen today. She knew as well as anyone that gut feelings could mean just about anything. “Luz said she was getting some sort of a gut feeling that something big was about to happen, but there was nothing to accompany it to make it understandable.” And yet somehow admitting it out loud still didn’t change the impact it had on her.

“You sure you guys didn’t miss something?” King asked. “I mean for being a self-proclaimed all-powerful witch. You do kind of get things wrong a bunch.”

“I’m fairly sure,” Eda said with a frown, for now, ignoring the hidden playful jab from King, too preoccupied to feel like rising to it. Wondering for a moment if she was trying to apply witch logic to a human again too much. “She said so herself when I asked that she wasn’t getting any of the normal tells when oracle magic is trying to tell you something.” Well, other than the gut feeling, at least. And well, she would never completely ignore it like Luz’s teacher had been suggesting. She knew it could be unreliable.

Though now that King had got the idea in her head, she couldn’t entirely shake the possibility that maybe there was a tell both of them had missed? She needed to bother Luz when she got home from class today. That much was for certain. As much as Eda had dismissed there being a potential problem on the horizon, obviously, the concern wasn’t just affecting Luz anymore. They needed to sort this out, before something big happened.

“Though I guess maybe just maybe she was just trying to get out of class?” King suggested breaking into her current train of thought. 

Eda’s eyes narrowed before shaking her head. “No, Luz really isn’t that type. You know that as well as I do.” Luz was a good student, but she wasn’t the type to get overly worked up over an upcoming test. Something else had been setting off alarm bells for Luz. It was just neither of them could figure it out yet. “Besides, I offered to call her in sick, and she refused, so it’s definitely not that.”

King opened his mouth to retort. However, whatever King was about to argue in response, Eda would never know as at that moment, they both heard a loud boom in the distance. A second later, Eda felt the entire house rattle. 

“What was _that?_ ” King asked.

Eda frowned, wondering the same, but deciding quickly standing around the house would not answer questions. She summoned Owlbert and her staff to her. She might not know what had happened yet. But as she rushed out the front door, she knew she needed to go find out. That kind of noise could only spell trouble.

“Hooty, can you tell me which direction that came from?” Eda asked as she swung onto the staff and kicking off. Hovering a few feet above the ground for a moment. Internally pleading for it not to have come from Hexside, even as she already knew it had to have. King scrambling to get a better position in her hair as she waited. 

“It definitely came from Bonesborough, and I’m not sure but- “Hooty began.

“It looked like it came from Hexside, didn’t it?” Eda finished the sentence, knowing already what Hooty was going to say. Suddenly, all the feelings from the morning came rushing back as it became clear it related to whatever Luz had been sensing to this.

Eda really wished now that Luz had more of a grasp on oracle magic. However, she knew that oracle magic could be tricky even for the best of witches. Let alone someone like Luz. However, that didn’t make her wish anymore that she had just listened to the instincts and kept Luz home. “I’m off. If anyone comes asking for me. I’m at Hexside!”

As she kicked off in the school's direction, a new troubling thought occurred to her. As much as she disliked the Coven system, it had its occasional benefits. One was to catch and stop things like this before they ever happened. That was part of the Oracle Coven’s job.

However, that wasn’t what happened. If whoever was responsible had been setting off warning signs, they had been either ignored or missed entirely somehow. The question was, how? The Oracle Coven _was_ supposed to have all the best Oracle witches were in it. Though she knew that was most likely wrong and more likely just another part of the Coven System’s propaganda system. However, propaganda or not, at least one of the witches should have caught this before it happened. So what had happened? Was something being merely lazy, or was there something deeper at plot here? Something wasn’t entirely right here. That was for sure. 

However, that was all a secondary concern. She didn’t have time to worry about that right now. She needed to get to Hexside and find out if Luz was safe.

* * *

It didn’t take long for Luz to regain consciousness after the blast.

Hearing was the first thing to return. If you could call the ringing in her ears and the weird distorted noise that she was registering, hearing. Her vision started to come back a moment later, and that was at least more cooperative. Though with how strangely dark the classroom was, she wasn’t entirely sure how much more it helped. 

What had happened? The last thing she remembered before she had been knocked unconscious was talking to Celeste... Celeste!

Luz shot up, only to regret it a second later as pain ran through the bottom of her leg. Okay, so hearing problems wasn’t her only problem, apparently. Hands running down her leg for a moment, she found the source of a problem. A nasty extended cut that she hadn’t even realized was there before. And going by the fact she had been knocked out, she had probably had some sort of head injury as well. 

The sound of what had to be someone calling to her again caused her to glance up. This time seeing it was the source was Celeste, or rather, a version of her for the lack of a better term. The girl was a few feet in front of her, hovering slightly with a pinkish-purple glow surrounding her. Astral projection, or at least that’s what Luz _hoped_ was what was happening here. Apparently, Celeste had taken a harder hit from the blast than she had. “What happened?”

Celeste started talking again, but Luz quickly realized a problem. As she could technically ‘hear’ Celeste, but understanding anything through the weird muddled distortion, that was her hearing combined with the lingering ringing. Was proving to be more difficult than she had expected.

Tugging on one of her ears for a moment. Hoping it might help with the hearing problems. It didn’t; all it did was give her a slight earache. She noticed the noise that she was getting from Celeste had stopped for a moment. And when she looked at the other girl she could, she was frowning. _Are you all right?_

“No. Something about the blast messed with my hearing.” Luz admitted with a frown. Trying to remember what her _mami_ may have mentioned in the past about blasts. Hoping something might have come up that could help now. However, she was drawing a blank. Well, it wasn’t like their small town back on Earth had regular explosions, anyway. “I can still understand you if you talk slow, though, since I know how to read lips. Just go slow, and I’ll be okay.” Well, mostly anyway.

 _"I was saying I don’t know what happened. The next thing I remember after getting knocked out is waking up like this. "_ Celeste motioned at her ghostly figure. " _All I can figure is that I must have accidentally projected in my panic when I felt the blast hit."_

That would make some sense. Hopefully, that was all there was to it. “How long ago was the blast, anyway?” Luz asked as she dug into the pile over her bag, keeping one eye on Celeste as she floated just in front of her to try to catch whatever Celeste said.

 _"I’m not sure."_ Celeste admitted. " _Doesn’t seem like it’s been too long. I haven’t heard anyone come by yet."_

 _“_ I don’t know if anyone will be able to come by.” Luz pointed out. If the room they were in was any indicator of the rest of the building..."If the classroom is this damaged. We’re probably not the only ones in bad shape. We can’t assume someone’s going to find us first." 

What was left unsaid was obvious. They would probably need to get out, get help on their own, and then come back with help for Celeste. She just was going to have to hope that Celeste’s actual body could last that long. 

_"Agreed; looks like we’re going to have to make a way out for ourselves then. I would try to help, but my crystal ball is smashed."_ Celeste answered. " _Not that I could have much use for it in this form, anyway. Haven’t quite grasped being able to pick up objects yet when astral projecting."_

“Don’t worry about it. We got other options to dig our way out. I still have my glyphs at least, or should.” Luz said as she scanned around the area, looking for the brown strap attached to it before finally spotting it under a small pile of rubble. It took a hard yank, but eventually, it slid out from under it.

With the bag finally free, she started digging through it, hunting for a light and plant glyph. Grateful, they hadn’t all been destroyed in the blast. Otherwise, getting out of here was going to be even more hazardous. 

Letting out a small sigh of relief as she came across the glyphs in question. Tapping the light glyph as she tucked the other in her pocket for safekeeping until she could find a good place to use it. She got her first proper look at the classroom. Despite it being daytime when the explosion had happened, the rubble had blocked most of the room’s natural light, making it hard to tell how bad it was until now. 

Not that there was a lot to look at, Luz belatedly realized with a wince. She and Celeste seemed to be surrounded by nothing but piles of rubble. She could just barely make out where the doorway to the classroom was. Though it wasn’t much, and they were going to have clear debris like she had feared to get out. Everything else, anything really that had marked it as a classroom, was gone. If she didn’t know better, she wouldn’t have even known her and Celeste were standing in the remains of a room.

Luz could make out what sounded like a sharp intake from Luz before some muddled comment. Soon, spotting the source of concern as she spotted Celeste’s still unconscious body trapped under a pile of rubble. She couldn’t fully understand what Celeste was saying, but she got the gist of it. She hadn’t realized how bad of a hit the room and her by extension had taken. 

“We’ll get help, and everything will be fine.” Luz tried to say in an encouraging tone. That she wasn’t entirely sure either she or Celeste believed if she stopped to think about it. But for now, she just couldn’t stop to think about it. They had to get out, or else it was going to spell trouble for both of them.

* * *

Eda’s stomach had been sinking like a stone the closer they got to Hexside. The cloud of smoke, the only damage she could see from a distance, was large and thus wasn’t an encouraging sight. Nothing good could make a cloud size that large. As the school finally came into view, her stomach just about hit rock bottom. 

Whatever had gone off had been powerful enough to cause extensive structural damage to the school, the type that couldn’t be fixed overnight. While one wing was better than the other at first glance, that was only a moderately better thing. Since it was evident that the entire building was damaged at least in some sort. 

“Wow, what happened here?” King was the one to ask the question that was weighing on both of their minds. 

The feeling of something wasn’t quite adding up was increasing for Eda. Hexside, well Hexside’s current building anyway, was arguably not that old. After all, it had built on the grounds of the school it had conquered. Thus she would have thought Bump would have put more effort in his tenure into making the school’s building strong. So either Bump hadn’t done so, or the blast was more powerful than she had initially imagined.

Too powerful, there was no way this was some accident by a potion or spell went awry. Any chance that this might have been some accident by a careless student, as little as it had been, to begin with, was vanishing rather quickly. Either way, she could worry about it later. She had other concerns to deal with.

“Not sure,” Eda admitted, eyes narrowing slightly. That was the question of the hour, it felt like. However, it was far from the only one. “Do you think you could try to track Luz?” King might be her best bet at finding Luz with his varying senses.

King tilted his head, sniffing the air and then the ground before shaking his head. “I might once we get closer to where she last was. But there are too many scents around here to pick hers out here.”

Eda let out an annoyed sigh, though she wasn’t entirely surprised. Of course, their life wouldn’t be that easy. “Alright, let’s go find the kid.” Hopefully, the school’s layout hadn’t changed too much over the years. She couldn’t exactly rely on the Secret Room for help at the moment. It probably had been damaged as well.

However, she didn’t make it past the building’s threshold before she found herself stopped. “Edalyn?” Lilith’s voice surprised her as much as her sister sounded surprised and stopped Eda in her tracks for a moment. “What are you doing here?”

Eda honestly would rather just have bolted at the moment rather than deal with Lilith, but she responded anyway. “Came to see what had happened. I felt the explosion all the way from my place.”

“Yes, it was quite powerful,” Lilith muttered to herself with a frown, glancing up at the school, or what was left of it anyway, moving to stand next to Eda. “So you came to assist then? Edalyn-“

“I came first and foremost to get Luz.” Eda cut into whatever comment or thought Lilith might have at the moment. “I’ll help if I can along the way. But my priority is my kid and getting her out.”

Lilith had a look of genuine surprise on her face. “I was unaware the human had enrolled here.”

“Luz.” Eda corrected. “And yeah, she wanted to see what a proper magic school was like, so Bump let her come.” There was no denying to Lilith at this point. Even if she got Luz away from the area without drawing attention. She would probably hear about it later. She just hoped it didn’t come back to bite Luz. The kid loved Hexside, and it would be a shame if she got barred from the school again. 

“Anyway, nice catching up, but I’ve got a kid to go after,” Eda said as she turned her attention away from Lilith before she could muster up a response. The longer she didn’t know how Luz had fared, the more worried she would get. She needed to go in, a potential hazard to herself or not.

“Wait, you can’t seriously about going in there alone.” Lilith began only to realize that was precisely what Eda had been planning. She let out a sigh. “At the very least, let me get a healer to accompany you in case we find other injured students, they can have some help. Also, since Ms. Blight’s in there as well so I would like to come with you.”

“No funny business?” Eda asked. She hated to ask, but things had been picking up with the Emperor’s Coven lately. And while she didn’t want to block Lilith. (whether or not she would admit it, the extra help probably would be a good thing). The last thing she needed was to be carted off as soon as she found Luz.

“No. Call this a truce for the moment.” Lilith said. “There are far bigger concerns at play than my concern of catching you for now. The school and whatever caused this takes first and foremost priority.”

* * *

Well, the plant glyph had been somewhat successful. Just maybe not nearly as much as Luz would have hoped. On the one hand, it had helped move some rubble that was blocking the doorway. The issue was that it just hadn’t done enough of a job before it had crumbled away, leaving Luz to still clear the rest of it by hand. 

She, of course, could have used another one. However, not knowing what she would find on the other side had been enough to stop her. Deciding she wanted to save her backups in case they needed them to just get out of the building. 

So here she was trying to slowly move the debris out of the way by hand; with Celeste’s body still out cold, the other girl couldn’t do anything but watch. So it was slightly noticeable when the other girl perked up slightly. 

Luz looked at her questionably, but Celeste didn’t address her. Instead, seeming to call out to someone. 

Luz frowned, backing off for a second, wondering if someone else had stumbled upon them. However, Celeste didn’t turn to talk to her, rather instead responding again to what seemed to be someone on the other side of the barrier. Luz frowned, glancing back at the rubble, and soon got an answer to who else had stumbled upon them. As a blue spell circle’s outline could be faintly made out in the debris, and a moment later, it faded, and the debris crumbled away, revealing Edric and Emira. 

The next couple of minutes were a bit of a blur. As Edric walked behind her, seeming to check on Celeste and she could make out Emira trying to ask something. Though she still wasn’t sure what was being said despite multiple attempts to figure it out. Celeste must have said something to the two because when Emira turned her attention back to Luz, she spoke slower. _"Are you okay?"_

“Leg got hurt by something.” Luz made a motion at her right leg. “I think that’s it, though... Celeste wasn’t the only one who got knocked out.” Luz said, glancing back to where she knew Edric must be taking a look at Celeste’s situation. Before turning her full attention back to Emira, who had knelt down in the meantime and used a part of her uniform to bandage up Luz’s leg. 

Luz frowned as she realized Emira was speaking, but not to her. She could only catch a few words as she finished wrapping Luz’s leg. Finally, catching the tail end of whatever Emira had been saying. - _then they can get caught up in some weird school explosion._

“I don’t want to cause issues with your parents,” Luz said with a frown, figuring it must have had something to deal with the makeshift bandage. Emira waved off the concern, though in an unmistakable message of ‘Don’t worry about it.’ 

Edric came around to Luz’s front side with Celeste hanging to his side. Luz frowned as she realized he didn’t have Celeste’s actual body with him though, raising an eyebrow. Why were they not moving Celeste’s body?

Edric responded with some comment she didn’t catch. He was still going too fast for her to catch most of what he was saying, but she caught the two most important ones. _"Too risky."_

Luz winced, realizing there were probably a couple of different issues at hand. It was most likely an issue if they moved Celeste. She could get hurt worse. Hadn’t her Mami warned her about something like that, come to think of it? “Alright, what now?”

Edric started to say something, but Emira cut him off. _"Let’s move this conversation outside before we discuss what to do next. The last thing we need is to get trapped in here after we cleared the debris."_

A few minutes later, with some help, all four were standing in the hallway outside of the classroom. Or what was left of it, anyway. It was in slightly better condition than the classroom, with actual room to move around in it. But it was becoming clear that their entire section of the building had taken an enormous hit from whatever had caused the blast. 

_"Yeah, most of the building has been like this from what we’ve seen_." Emira said as she saw the look on Luz’s face. " _Admittedly, we haven’t quite been able to get out of here yet."_

Luz frowned, glancing between the two. “What were you two doing over here, anyway?” Not that she was unhappy. They had been over in this neck of the building. She probably would still be digging if they hadn’t. However, the illusion track classroom was clear on the other side of the building. 

_Prank_. Edric answered for the both of them. 

Should have seen that one coming, Luz realized. Well, regardless of why they had been there, it had turned into a good thing. “Not that I’m complaining, but if you were here for that, then why stick around?”

 _"Well, one, most of the passageways are blocked so we haven’t found a way out yet. And two, we were trying to locate Amity."_ Emira answered. " _We’ve been using the time to find more survivors. But you’re the only ones that were awake that we found."  
_

Luz recoiled as she realized that it was quite possible that so far, it appeared she and Celeste were the only survivors. Swallowing hard, she tried to push that out of her mind as quickly as the realization had come. She had to believe there were more survivors. She had to find more of them. Since more being dead was too grizzly to comprehend at the moment. “Amity?” She was almost afraid to ask, but part of her needed to know.

 _"No sign of her yet."_ Edric answered. Luz frowned as she had a feeling he was leaving something out. But wasn’t in the mood to press it. " _We still haven’t quite got down to where the Abominations homeroom is yet, so we’re hoping to find her there."_

Right the homeroom was away from the direction she had heard the blast come from, Luz realized belatedly. There was hope yet then, anyway. And that’s what she was going to have to ride on. “Alright, let’s go find Amity and get out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so that's a wrap for today. Please remember to leave a comment. I always appreciate them even if I don't always respond I do read all of them.
> 
> So posting schedule. I am going to be alternating between posting this and Luz's Not So Great Luck. 
> 
> So in other words with this don't expect to see a new chapter until Chapter 7 of Luz's Not So Great Luck goes up. And I am currently aiming for 4 days minimum between chapters to give myself to breathe. So Chapter 7 would go up next on either the 21 or 22. If I can keep on schedule. Which would put Chapter 3 of this on the 25/26.
> 
> If I finish one before the other that will change since that means I now have a backlog and more time to breathe and the pace should pick up with the completed one. Just not sure how much the post pacing will change.


	3. Even With Those Who Guide Us Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two groups finally start finding some survivors and Eda gets an unexpected surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long to get out. I got sidetracked. But its finally here. Hope you guys like it. And please, please, please, remember to leave a comment when you're done.
> 
> Quick note with scenes involving Luz this chapter. When she hears anyone talking at the moment it will be in italics instead of the normal double quote. This is done to differentiate between normal speech patterns and her current issue.

Navigating the debris was slow moving, Luz had quickly discovered.

The injured leg certainly wasn’t helping, but it wasn’t the only issue. With Edric and Emira also checking to see if there was anyone else to help, it meant they were pausing frequently. So overall progress forward had been slow.

However, thankfully, the slow progress hadn’t been without its uses. In their third supposedly empty classroom, they had finally found an uncovered teacher’s desk. Luz began looking through it, hoping whoever the teacher was wouldn’t mind after this was all over. But she really needed the extra paper more than anything else. Finally, in the fourth drawer she checked, she hit the jackpot when she found what seemed to be a large stack of blank papers.

Luz wasn’t going to stop and wonder why they were blank. It didn’t matter why at the moment. What mattered was she had papers she could use to cast glyph magic with. Or rather, hopefully, pass on to anyone who might be in too rough shape to cast normal spell circles themselves. As she quickly began sketching out some light and plant glyphs on the papers. Something she explained to an enquiring Edric and Emira when they had asked.

“Well, we’re planning to continue after Amity regardless of what or who we find, right?” Luz rhetorically asked the two of them as she continued sketching out the glyphs. She at least figured that was the plan. Though she could be wrong and end up alone after it.

_ “Er, we haven’t really thought that far ahead.” _ Emira admitted.  _ “First was find Amity, everything else wasn’t really thought out.” _

“Well, even if we don’t. Extras aren’t a bad idea.” Luz said as she kept sketching plant and light glyphs.

She technically could have probably added a few fire and ice glyphs to the growing pile. But these were the ones that would most likely prove the most useful in this situation. Light glyphs could provide light, obviously. And plant glyphs could help people move debris obstruction.

“Anyway, since we really shouldn’t hold anyone else back just because we’re going after her. So I was thinking I could give some of my glyphs out. Though for that I’m going to need more paper.” Luz finished.

_ “I mean, are you sure anyone can cast with these and it isn’t just a Luz thing?” _ Edric said, picking up a paper with a light glyph. Tapping it like he had seen Luz do when she needed to cast. Watching it ball up into a light ball. “ _ Guess that answers that.” _

Luz frowned in mild annoyance. “Please don’t do that again. The last thing we need is to use them up.” Though she guessed it wasn’t completely wasted paper. Since she hadn’t honestly known the answer to Edric’s question. “Anyway, can you both check for more paper please?”

“ _ How did you know about the casting issue, anyway?”  _ Celeste asked with a frown as the other two moved away from them. “ _ You don’t cast right?” _

“No, I don’t.” Luz agreed. Or at least not in the traditional sense most witches thought of. No matter how much she kept up with everyone else. That would be something she would never be fully capable of. “However, Eda gave me a long lecture about it.” 

Of course Luz left out that the discussion had happened after Eda had first transformed into the owlbeast. As Eda had used it as a learning moment as to why, in hindsight, her doing the spell circles as much as she had, had been a dumb idea. Luz still felt bad about that, no matter how much Eda assured her that wasn’t entirely her fault. 

“ _ Ah.” _ Celeste said.

Edric and Emira came back up a moment later with a small stack of papers in hand. Passing them over to Luz Emira said. “ _ It’s not much.” _

“It will do. It’s at least better than what we started with.” Luz said, taking the offered papers. Hopefully, this would last them until they found Amity. Though, she was really hoping that they would find someone that could make use of them besides themselves long before then.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the school, Eda was waiting rather impatiently for Lilith to return with a healer. The only thing really keeping her from just going screw it and going in without Lilith and the healer, as much as she didn’t want to think about the possibility of Luz being hurt, there was a very real possibility that Luz would need help once she found her. So like it or not, she needed that healer. 

When Lilith finally came back the healer that accompanied her was someone Eda wasn’t familiar with. She was just slightly shorter than Lilith herself with golden blond hair tied back into a braid she carried a staff of her own, which some sort of small falcon sat on top of. “Edalyn, this is Althea. Althea, this is my sister Edalyn.”

“Yes, I am familiar with her, even if only in passing.” Grey eyes flicked over Eda’s form. Though they seemed to carry a trace of curiosity rather than out of distaste. Eda briefly wondered what stories that had apparently been passed around. Probably nothing she hadn’t heard of before. “Lilith was informing me you wished for my help in helping track down some students.”

Right, curiosity about the new healer friend of Lily’s would have to wait for the moment. “Yeah, I’m worried about my student Luz. She was supposed to be heading to the Oracle Track rooms this morning. Which of course are...” Or worse Eda silently added.

“Closer to what appears to have been the center of the blast.” Althea said, glancing up behind Eda. Scanning the debris field. “Getting to her won’t be easy, you realize that?”

Eda shrugged at that. “Things very rarely are easy when it comes to me, let alone my kid.” That could almost be her life mantra, arguably. “That will not stop me, however. I’m not exactly the type to just sit idly around while you and your buddies pull out survivors.”

“Yes, Lilith had mentioned that.” Althea noted. “And the stories I’ve heard from her and others certainly supports that. I understand the need. I would do the same if the situation was reversed, and it was one of my nieces in this situation. It’s partly why I broke off from the primary group to help.”

Well, at least Althea would not be a source of problems it looked like. Though now Eda was wondering just how much she and Lilith knew each other. Lily in her experience tried to keep coven related business and personal matters separate. Well, outside of their own affair, of course. However, this sounded like another case of overlap. Something to bother her about at a later time, Eda supposed.

Lilith butted in before Eda could think to ask another question, however. “Edalyn, what did you mean earlier that she was supposed to head towards the Oracle Track classroom. Wouldn’t that be her normal route if she was an Oracle student?” 

“No, she’s multi track, actually.” Eda said with a shrug. Forgetting for a moment that Lilith wouldn’t know about Bump had loosened the rules since they were students here.

Lilith began muttering under her breath about the blasphemy of the situation. Eda groaned under her breath. She should have seen this coming, really. Of course Lilith would consider mixing magic heresy. The old days of the Lilith who may have been willing to look the other way were long gone. Wiped out in the aftermath of becoming the head of Emperor Bonehead’s coven.

Eda was about to butt in, but to her surprise Althea beat her to it. “Lilith, I don’t think right now is the time for this.” Althea reminded her before her sister could completely go off on a tangent. “We’ve got children to rescue. You can worry about how Principle Bump’s running the school later.”

That prod was thankfully enough to do the trick as it snapped Lilith out of her mini rant. Oh, Eda was already starting to take a liking to this woman if she could help reign Lilith in. She definitely needed to inquire from her how the two knew each other if they were that comfortable, apparently with the other. “Your right, of course. My apologies, not sure what went over me.” Lilith muttered.

Eda had her own thoughts on the matter, but for now didn’t voice them. She was more concerned with finding Luz than hearing Lilith’s tangents at the moment. And they had wasted enough time on the matter lounging around the entrance. Maybe after this was all said and done, they could talk about it. If she was willing to acknowledge the issue at all. Let alone talk about it.

“Anyway, you said you think that the Oracle homeroom was where she headed?” Althea asked, turning her attention away from Lilith with a frown.

Eda nodded at the question before answering. “She wanted to go talk to one of her Oracle teachers this morning. And considering the  _ timing, _ I don’t think she would have had time to move away from there.” That would have been nice if that had happened. But Eda would not count on her luck being that good.

“Which is concerning since the homeroom is not too far from where the center of the blast was.” Althea noted with a frown taking in the ruined building again.

Eda’s fists slightly clinched at the reminder of her own worry. She had been desperately trying not to think too much about Luz’s location and what the possibilities that could mean. She had to believe that Luz was alright. If she didn’t… then Eda wasn’t sure what she would do.

“I’m sure your pet is fine, Edalyn.” Lilith’s voice broke her out of her thoughts.

“Not my pet.” Eda corrected without a second thought. She didn’t know entirely where Lilith had gotten that idea. But she would not allow her to keep saying it. At least not to her face.

Lilith was about to retort when Althea cut in again, annoyance and a tint of anger apparent in her tone. “Look, you two can argue all day, after we rescue the students. Do you want to actually help them or not?”

“Help them, of course.” Was the slightly cowed response from both Edalyn and Lilith.

“Right then your dog-” Althea began indicating King.

“I am not a dog!” King cut in before she could finish the sentence. “I am King! The King of Demons!”

Seeing the bemused expression on Althea’s face, Eda mouthed. ‘Just go with it.’

“Alright then, King.” To Althea’s credit, if she was skeptical of King’s claim, she didn’t let it be known. “Can you possibly track down either of the students?”

King shook his head, repeating what he had told Eda earlier. “Too many scents. My nose is good, but not enough to pick up Luz over all the rest. Or really distinguish anyone out of this mess, to be honest. At least not yet.”

“Of course that would be too convenient.” Lilith grumbled slightly.

“Hey, it’s not like you could smell them out either!” King nearly snapped at Lilith. He honestly wished he could pick out Luz from the rest. That he couldn’t pick up her lemony scent amongst all the other students bothered him.

“It’s not like we didn’t expect it to be difficult.” Althea reminded her cutting in before yet another argument could get started. “As is, we should probably get going. The sooner we locate survivors the better.”

No one brought up the sinking reality that they were going to undoubtedly find the dead as well.

* * *

Honestly, Luz wasn’t entirely sure where they were when they first finally found signs of other survivors of the explosion. 

To her, it had felt like they had been walking down the hall for what felt like ages. Stepping into whatever rooms they could get into. Trying to see if they could find others. Trying to get into other ones as much as they could to check for survivors. But between the two already exhausted witchlings, a ghost for all intents and purposes, and Luz needing to be somewhat careful with the use of her glyphs, they probably hadn’t been able to check as thoroughly as any of them had wanted. 

They made do with what they could. There was just an unspoken hope that they hadn’t left someone behind whose saving could be that critical in their wake. Though much like with Celeste none of them were entirely sure even if they found them if they could have been able to help on their own.

So it was a relief when they had stumbled upon another pair of survivors after what felt like walking forever. Even if one of those survivors had turned out to be Boscha.

It delighted Luz on the one hand to find anyone else who had gotten out of the explosion alive. Sure it would have been nice to find one of her other friends, like Amity. But anyone else at this point was an improvement over the no one. Boscha on the other hand was not exactly happy to see her. If the slightly sour expression was anything to go by. 

Another potions girl that Luz didn’t recognize followed Boscha. Both being helped down the debris pile by Edric and Emira. Boscha came to a stop in front of her. She seemd to hesitate for a moment, earning herself a light elbow from the white-haired girl with her. Before finally turning her head and muttering something that Luz could not catch.

Luz blinked a couple of times in surprise as she finally started catching what Boscha was trying to say. ‘Thank’ Wait was Boscha actually thanking her? There was something that Luz had never expected to happen. “Your welcome. Can’t leave people trapped.” Regardless of their history.

Especially since they had yet to find any other rescuers. Something that honestly was unnerving Luz a bit, if she was being honest. Was it just because they were in a hard to reach spot or was there just that much debris to clear before anyone could reach them? Just how long were they going to be trapped here if they didn’t find a way out?

Luz snapped out of her thoughts, noticing a discussion going on between the others about what appeared to be about Celeste. “What’s going on?”

“ _ Celeste’s going with them.”  _ Em answered. 

It surprised Luz for a moment. Before realizing it made perfect sense. With them going further in, Amity still nowhere in sight, and Celeste needing help sooner than later. Her splitting to go with Boscha, and the other potions girl made sense. 

“Take care then.” Luz said. Hoping that the mystery of if Celeste was going to be okay would be over soon. Well, at least for Celeste. Since it would probably be a bit before Luz found out what happened at this rate.

_ “Likewise.”  _ Celeste said before the group turned away and started in the direction Luz and company had come from.

_ “Hey Luz.”  _ Emira’s distorted voice turned Luz’s attention away from the disappearing group.  _ “Are you sure you don’t want to go with them?” _

Luz tilted her head in confusion. “Why?” She asked. “Other than my leg, I feel fine.” She was feeling more exhausted. But then again they had been walking for a while now it felt like. Besides, she would not turn back just quite yet.

However, that comment did little to reassure Emira. As in a rare moment for her, she was frowning slightly. Finally, thankfully, she relented. _ “Alright, fine. But if you start feeling bad-.” _

“You’ll be the first to know.” Luz assured her. 

Though Luz if she was being honest was really hoping it wouldn’t be too long before they stumbled upon Amity and the rest of her friends. 

* * *

While Luz and company had been only able to suspect the number dead. With the classrooms impenetrable in spots, making it impossible to check. Eda and her group were faced with the very stark reality. 

It had started out mostly okay. There had been some students who had needed help to be pulled out from under the rubble. Most with a couple of exceptions could walk back to the school entrance on their own. But as they started heading into the more damaged parts of the school building, so did the reality of the situation. 

Althea stepped back out of the most recent classroom already moving to unfasten her own Palisman, Horus, from its perch. She was going to need more teleport scrolls than she had expected, and she had thought she was being generous at first. So she needed him to fetch some for her from the stand in the market that sold them. Hopefully Akiki wouldn’t give him too much trouble considering the circumstances. 

“Should I send Owlbert too?” Eda asked, noticing Lilith was also unfastening her Palisman, Valravn for the same reason.

“It’s probably best not.” Lilith said with a shake of the head as she finished counting out snails. While maybe normally it wouldn’t have been a bad idea. However, there were two things at play here. One was that it was probably not the best idea to be complete without their Palismans. And for the second one. “He knows our Palismans and is less likely to think we’re scamming him. He can be a bit paranoid with new customers.”

“More than a bit.” Althea grumbled. There was a reason the witch ran a stand selling Teleport Scrolls of all things after all. It had been a source of continual annoyance.

“Best in the business?” Eda took a stab at why apparently the other witch was possibly being used. She couldn’t think of any other reason while Lilith would keep going back there. 

“One of the few, actually. But yes his quality is better than the others.” Lilith corrected. There weren’t many who made a living selling this kind of equipment. And some could be less than scrupulous at times. As annoying as it was, Akiki’s paranoia was probably well earned. That was really the only reason either of them put up with it. 

“King?” Eda asked, noticing how he seemed to be more focused on something up ahead than the brewing argument.

“I hear voices up ahead.” King answered. 

“Luz?” Eda asked, trying not to get her hopes up that it would be that simple to find her. Maybe they were finally going to have some good luck. Though she should really have known better, things were never this simple in her experience.

King listened for a moment before he shook his head. “Not Luz. I think one of them’s Boscha. I don’t recognize the other two though.”

Eda stifled a groan. So not only had they not found Luz. But they hadn’t even been able to find someone in the friend group of Luz’s yet. Well, maybe one of them had hopefully run into Luz. She would take any sign that the kid was alive at this point. Even if it was just word of mouth. 

“I’m sure that she isn’t much further past them.” Lilith broke into her train of thought.

“That’s only if they ran into each other.” Eda countered. And with the way things were going. They probably hadn’t even run into Luz. Titan, she wanted to just find her kid and get out of here. But Titan was making things increasingly difficult for her to do so, it felt like.

“Lets just hope for the best.” Althea cut in before another full-blown argument could start. 

However, catching sight of the trio did the opposite of assuring Eda that Luz might actually be okay. Boscha and another potions student she didn’t recognize looked fine. And that might have been a reassurance of sorts for Eda, considering the direction they came from. The issue was the last member of the group.

Eda felt her stomach fall out from under her as soon as she had seen her. The crescent-shaped girl she didn’t recognize was definitely an oracle track kid. And seeing them floating along in an ‘astral form’ did little to reassure herself that Luz was okay at the moment. If those two had been anywhere near each other…

Shaking her head, trying to clear herself of the thoughts, trying to reassure herself that just because Luz had been heading the Oracle Track Homeroom. Didn’t mean necessarily that Luz had been with the girl when it had gone off? Right?

“She and the twins went further in. They wanted to find Amity before turning around.” Boscha answered a question that Eda had missed in her internal panic.

Eda was torn between being relieved at the confirmation that Luz was at least alive. And the frustration that Luz was walking towards and not away from danger. “Oh Luz.” Eda just finally facepalmed. Sometimes Luz’s loyalty to her friends was a bit aggravating to say the least. This was one of those times. Well, at least she wasn’t alone, she supposed. 

“Why would she be going after Amity?” Lilith asked, a frown crossing her face.

That got Boscha to smirk. Apparently even exhausted and hurt, she still found some amusement in the situation. “She hasn’t told you yet?”

“Told me what?” Lilith asked, frowning deeper. 

Oh boy, Eda realize that it looked like Lilith had either been just as oblivious as Luz. Or she was just that disconnected from her apprentice. Which raised more questions. She cut in before Boscha could continue. “Look, I can explain later to you what’s going on between Amity and Luz. But for now,  _ you _ need to get back to the front. And  _ we _ need to go after the oblivious duo.”

Althea cut in with a correction. “Actually, Celeste’s coming with us in the meantime. We need for us to show her where her physical form is trapped so we can get her medical attention.”

“Yeah, I’m betting anyone around her is going to need a good solid look at.” Eda noted with a frown. Wondering just how bad things were going to get. And things hadn’t been pretty to start with. 

“Luz was the only one I noticed or could see.” Celeste admitted. “Don’t worry other than a scratch to the leg, she was fine.” Celeste tried to reassure her when she saw the look on Eda’s face at the comment.

Though it was a bit too late for that. Now that she knew for sure where Luz had been when the blast had happened, the worry had deepened. Sure Luz looked fine apparently, but that didn’t mean Luz was hiding something. She didn’t know much about explosions. But she doubted the only possible injuries were the  _ visible  _ ones. 

Judging by a flicker of concern she spotted in Althea’s eyes for a moment, she wasn’t the only one that realized it. But as much as she hated it, there was nothing she could do. She was just going to have to hope that Luz wasn’t ignoring any concerning signs. The last thing she wanted was for Luz to die because she kept helping everyone else. Not after she had survived the initial blast. She really needed to get to Luz and get her checked out, properly. 

“I’m sure she’s fine, sister.” Lilith’s voice distracted Eda for a moment. “Besides, even if she is injured. She has far more competent witches around to help her.”

Eda was about to give a sharp retort, but Althea beat her to it. “ _ Lilith Clawthorne-Aeson _ . I don’t know what your deal is with your sister’s student. But now is not the time to be arguing or one upping each other. You can sort this out whatever grudge you apparently have against the human when it’s not interfering with my job.”

“It’s not a grudge.” Lilith muttered.

Althea’s glare didn’t lighten up, however. “Grudge, jealousy, I honestly don’t care what it is, Lily. Now is  _ not _ the time to be making snide remarks.” Seeing Eda’s look, she added. “I’m guessing Lily didn’t bother telling you what happened between us?”

“No. When the heck was the wedding?” Eda said finally snapping out of her stupor. She knew she and Lily had a falling out a while back. Even so, it still stung that she apparently hadn’t been invited to her sister’s wedding.

“This is really a better story for another time.” Lilith muttered.

“Though it will have to be told.” Althea said with a pointed look. Turning her attention back to Eda. “Once this is all over with, I will make sure you find out what happened. But as much as I am sure you would love to know. Now is clearly not the time.”

“Fine.” Eda relented if a bit reluctantly. If for no other reason then she needed to find Luz. “Just one question, though. Why wasn’t I invited?”

There was a shared glance between the two before Lilith finally answered as they moved down the hall. “The situation with the wedding was a bit sudden to say the least.” 

Althea decided to apparently be more blunt. “Emergency is the better word here. We had been dating prior to the incident. But when it happened, we had to move fast.”

Eda frowned, her lips pursed, wondering just what exactly had happened. Before she could ask though, Lilith said. “Besides, this was shortly after the incident with Galileo. I wasn’t entirely sure if you would have wanted to see me-” 

Eda snorted and cut in. “Don’t be daft. Even if we still had been arguing then, I would have been there if you had asked.” Though at least she knew when it had happened now if she had her timing right. “Just ask next time before you go off and do something major is all I ask.” She glanced up at Althea. “And I guess this is really belated, but welcome to the family.”

She just hoped she would not find out about an addition to the family just as she was panicking about losing one. She knew Celeste said Luz appeared fine. But no matter how hard Eda tried, she couldn’t completely shake the concern that something was wrong.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for now. With any luck the next one won't take a month and a half. 
> 
> Like I said before please remember to leave a comment letting me know what you thought.
> 
> See you around for the next chapter.


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